Ebony Russell

Using piping – a technique usually reserved for the cake decorating craft of royal icing – I create vessels, candelabras, grottos, and sculptures The decorative detail is the foundation of the form and is an ode to excess, made entirely of ornamentation. I embrace the underlying feminine-coded attributes of porcelain sculpture, and decorative arts and use decoration as a medium. The labor-intensive process connects to women’s craft practice and honours the passing down of matrilineal craft within my family while rebuffing the historical discrimination of decoration. Ornamentation and decoration are celebrated creating the foundation, architecture, and entirety of the artwork.